19870627 Bhagavad-gītā Ch.17

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharaj on June 27th, 1987 in Hartsville, South Carolina, USA. The class begins with a reading from Bhagavad-gītā chapter 17.

Jayapatākā Swami: In the Bhagavad-gītā which is a basic text , which is more than 5000 years old, most of the basic teachings regarding how to be happy while living in this world and how to go back return to one’s original full spiritual position are described in a simple manner in the Bhagavad-gītā. So, in the Bhagavad-gītā it explains that we are a combination of body, mind and living force. Modern world is very nice, the only complain we would have is that the body is given so much importance but the mind and the spiritual level is often neglected, which in the long run creates more problems even for the body. So, life means that all the body mind and the living force all these aspects of life should be brought into a proper harmony. The living force is who we are that is the real self as described in the Vedas by the word ātmā meaning the self or the soul or living force. For instance, the body goes through various changes small baby, little child, a youth, adult, old age, in all these different changes the body also changes but the consciousness has a continuous link one still remembers the childhood one feels that one is the same person although the body is changed. The Mind may even change but the living force doesn’t change. So, in the Bhagavad gītā (2.13) it is explained:

dehino ’smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

That that just as the body is changed so many times but the living force remains the same. Similarly even when the body perishes, the living force continues to exist and simply goes to one body, enters into a womb at conception and begins a new life. From an embryo child on... fresh start. So, the living force is also described just as the sun is situated just as the sun is situated in the solar system from one place the sun is radiating it’s energy throughout the universe in that way the living force is situated in the vicinity of the heart and the through the blood stream the consciousness is radiated throughout the entire body and if we do a simple experiment we can see whether that is true or not. We could just cut off the circulation to one of the externities of body and if by cutting off the blood if after sometime we lose the sense of feeling that will indicate that the this is infact true. Of course, everyone has experienced that i don’t have to even go through the exercise. If we cut off the blood, our hand will go to sleep our leg will go to sleep, we will lose the sense of feeling. That means intrinsically the hand doesn’t have any sense of feeling if it is not connected with the blood. who is feeling? It’s not the hand that is feeling, it’s the living force that is feeling and the hand is like an instrument. Just as we have microscopes and telescopes and so many different instruments for seeing. So, this body has instruments for seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling. But all of them are receiving information and passing that on through the brain directly to the living force. Actually the brain later on categorizes what’s actually happening but we feel it directly from the living force. So, this living force is who we are. We are the living force. Sometimes people say i have a soul, but according to Vedic Indian ancient vision, we are souls and we have a body. We are living force and we have a body. In bengal there is very customary when someone is greeting another person, they say ''How is your body? Is your body healthy?'' They don’t say, “how are you?” because the soul you are the atma. You are the living force. The living force is always good. But the body is sometimes healthy and sometimes sick. And they say, “How is your body?” This is a customary greeting. In the Bhagavad-gītā, our founder Bhaktivedanta Swami explains something about the living force.

Purport:  Since every living entity is an individual soul which is changing its body every moment manifesting sometimes as a child, sometimes as a youth, sometimes as an old man. Yet the same spirit soul is there, it does not undergo any change. This individual soul finally changes its body at death and transmigrates to another body and since it is sure to have another body in the next birth either material or spiritual, there was not a cause for lamentation by Arjuna on an account of death neither for Bhishma, nor for Drona for whom he was so much concerned.

Any man who has perfect knowledge of the constitution of the individual soul and nature and the Supersoul both material and spiritual is called a dhīra or a  most sober man. Such a man is never deluded by the change of bodies.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, what we see that although the living force is in everybody, yet we see that every individual is different. This is for two reasons. One is that every living force is different. It is an individual person. Another reason is because every individual person has their own fortune, their own destiny, their own karmic history. They have their own desires, and because of all these various influences, they have developed a particular body. They have achieved a certain body. In this way they are living. Now there are various things that can affect our consciousness. Normally, our consciousness is not in a pure state. It’s colored. Just as someone may be wearing yellow sunglasses, or they might be red glass or may be there be blue. If you look through a yellow glass everything looks yellow. If you look through red, everything will look red. If you look through a blue glass, things will look tainted with blue. It’s very natural. So, similarly although the living force is one different people will see different things because they have already different outlook based upon the type of association they have made in this world. So, the Bhagavad-gītā explains that there are basically three types of consciousness. goodness, passion and ignorance. And goodness is like yellow, passion is like red, ignorance is like blue. So, just like the primary colors if you mix yellow, red and blue you can get unlimited combinations of color. Similarly, by different percentages of passion, ignorance, or goodness, you get different kinds of outlooks, personalities, people and so on. So, if a person wants wisdom, if a person wants happiness, if a person wants peace of mind then the mode of goodness helps with that. If a person is in the mode of passion, then it produces greed and anxiety and if a person is in the mode of passion gives some immediate happiness but subsequently gives suffering. And the mode of ignorance produces insanity and laziness and various types of irrationality and destructive tendency. So, food is also affected. If a person eats food which is in the mode of goodness, this is very healthy. If a person eats food that’s in the mode of passion, then that has a different effect. And if one eats food that is in the mode of ignorance, then that can produce even disease and illness. So, in this category vegetables, fruits, milk, grains, things which are juicy, which are fresh, which are these are foods in the mode of goodness. Are you following that? You can read it.

(Bg.17.8) Foods dear to those in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify one's existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such foods are juicy, fatty, wholesome, and pleasing to the heart.

(Bg.17.9) Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning are dear to those in the mode of passion. Such foods cause distress, misery, and disease.

(BG:17.10) Food prepared more than three hours before being eaten, food that is tasteless, decomposed and putrid, and food consisting of remnants and untouchable things is dear to those in the mode of darkness.

Jayapatākā Swami: It’s like if something is decomposed, rotten, scorn off that can even cause typhoid or food poisoning. If something is too hot, too spicy, or very extreme in some way that can cause other types of (unclear: 12:30)  indigestion, discomfort. Basically, the foods mentioned here in the mode of goodness those are the foods that we recommend to people regularly to eat. Those food fall in the lacto-vegetarian category. Now in addition to simply eating those foods it is also recommended that one can learn how to prepare the foods as a type of yogic meditation. Basically, to bring our consciousness upto the level of the living force, we require to bring the consciousness in touch with some spiritual food contact. Just like we are chanting mantras. Mantra is a vibration which can deliver the mind and consciousness, which can up lift it to the spiritual platform. Mind is generally in the lower platform but gradually the consciousness can be up lifted to be aware of the self and the supreme self. That is called yoga or to come in contact with the Supreme Absolute Truth so just as it is possible to do this type of meditation, it is possible through discussion and knowledge. So, it is also there are some activities which are described as sacrifices, or activities which are performed with a purpose of uplifting the consciousness. So, when food is prepared as a meditation as a type of an offering or as sacrifice then that food becomes sanctified and those who eat it their consciousness is also uplifted, and they can feel something different from that type of food as compared to other ordinary food. So, the person that is preparing the food in a loving attitude to offer it to Kṛṣṇa in this type of very pure attitude then that vibration also enters into the food and those who partake of the food they will get more benefit. So if somebody’s cooking when very angry, somehow that will go into the food and those who eat it may even get effects from that. This is very subtle and not so easy to ascertain but it has an effect like that. So, how we mould our life how we what type of association we place ourselves into this is very important. If we learn from the Bhagavad-gītā how to see what aspects of the world are good what are passionate what are ignorant if we chose to associate with those activities which are more good that will uplift us. Those things that are passionate tend to keep up on the same level and those things in the mode of ignorance rend to degrade us. So, in this way according to how a person leads his life this creates the environment or the consciousness of what the future life would be. Now in this way there is the transmigration of the soul. Now recently in modern parapsychology there have been various experiments performed using regression, using hypnotism, using the children who have a recollection of their previous life and there are literally thousands of case histories. There was one five-year-old child who kept telling her father that in a previous life she was living in another village actually this was a child born in Bengal, India. But some scientists from Chicago United States they went into research this actually from Virginia, United States. Excuse me. And this child she kept telling her father that  “I used to live in Bhatpara and i was married but died at an young age but i have my husband, my children and everything there." So, the father’s thinking why is my little baby is saying all these things. Finally out of curiosity agreed to take his daughter to the other village. She immediately walked right up to a particular house. She tried to enter into the house by a particular entrance but that entrance has been blocked off. Then she went around the house and she went into the another entrance. Later she found that when the after the entrance she tried to go into previously was the main entrance for that house. But some years before two three years before they closed it off and using the another entrance. When she came in she immediately when she saw her husband it is a custom in India that the wife feels a little shy before the husband so she immediately started even though she was a five year old girl she started to just emotionally display certain sentiments here is my husband this is his name and this is bill and that one was whatever the names were started to identify the persons this is my grandfather. So the father was totally amazed how is this possible. So that's why he talked to some scientists and finally from Virginia they came into some Parapsychologist experts to study, and they came to the conclusion that there is no other explanation except for the transmigration of the soul which is popularly known as reincarnation. That after this body is finished, we continue to live. We simply go on and take new birth. So in this way it's basically a certain number of souls in the human form of life and then from animal species other souls are coming up through a type of evolution or transmigration normality human beings are supposed to get liberation and go out of the cycle of transmigration or reincarnation and go back to our original spiritual position outside of this material world. Because now human beings are neglecting this science of self-realization, they are not achieving liberation in sufficient numbers, so we are getting a kind of accumulation of human beings known as the population explosion. This could easily be corrected if more people would participate in self-realization and achieving liberation from the material world. So 501 years ago 1486 Lord Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in Navadvīpa Māyāpur about 108 kilometer north of calcutta and he established that in this age we are in the 20th century this is called basically the age of kali. It's a Vedic period of time which started 5000 years ago and will continue for many thousands of years. It's known as the iron age. Before there was known as the Bronze age, before that silver, before that the golden age. So we are now in the iron age. So for this iron age he taught for achieving self-realization the most practical method of elevating the consciousness is by chanting the mantras or specific vibrations which are meant for uplifting the consciousness. Now previously these mantras have always been chanted in India, that's not something new because since things immemorial great yogīs and sages have been chanting mantras. The difference is that Lord Caitanya he taught that if a group of people chant together, this will have more effect and in that group chanting you can have people of all different ages of all different creeds of all different background and they can all come together they can in a co-operative way they can all chant clapping their hands and playing some instruments and even dancing and in this way it's a type of active meditation with the consciousness remaining fixed in chanting or singing or hearing the mantra the people's consciousness can be elevated very quickly. Now there is a great culture behind this for instance you have heard the drum being played now in playing these drums it's not an ordinary drum of course originally this was made out of clay called mṛdanga. Mṛt means clay but because when shipping from India to the west the clay usually breaks. You see in modern technology we have fibre glass. Unbreakable. But the shape is very similar. Even when a person plays the drum, it's a meditation they do. Each sound has a meditation that the person who plays it think thi tha tha, thi tha tha, thi tha tha tha thi tha tha thi tha like that each one has a sound thi tha natha thi tha thi tha tha thi ni thi ni tha , thi tha na tha thi tha tha tha tha thi ni thi ni tha. So even the drum is a kind of meditation and there is certain mantras or sounds that one meditates on the sound while playing the drum. Of course, that doesn't really matter for people who don't play the drum but this demonstrates that within the culture, there is a very vast tradition going from ordinary playing of instruments in fact ceremonially playing. Although even when young people are playing when old people when they started playing after some time they feel a lot of spiritual energy. Sometimes it's just a very joyful expression. But actually it's a very serious business. It's a very serious meditation. It's not just very joyful, it's something that can be serious something that can be important but same time it can be very pleasant. In this way you can have your cake and eat it too. You can be performing self-realization at the same time it's very joyful to perform. Why should self-realization be unpleasant or boring why can't it be an interesting and very joyfully performed. So Lord Caitanya he taught this basic process and he was having hundreds and thousands of people even gathered together. Chanting these names of Kṛṣṇa these different mantras. So at that time in India there was mughal rule in many parts of India. That means from turkey different Mughal rulers had conquered northern India and they were ruling. So by faith these rulers are basically Mohammedan, like sometimes they tend to be very rigid in their beliefs. Sometimes they are not yielding and accepting different other cultures. In fact this is kind of trait especially in those times. But somehow Lord Caitanya was able to even impress the Mohammedan ruler. That what he was teaching was something very pure very good. One time he was chanting just about 4 miles from the capital city of the emperor Hussain Shah. While he was chanting literally thousands and thousands of people used to gather joining along with this big chanting. So much so that it was becoming a very big fair. Literally thousands and thousands of people were all gathering and all chanting. So some of the Mohameddan were Hindu ministers in the government. They became very worried that if there emperor the mughal emperor Hussain Shah knows about Caitanya Mahāprabhu's chanting may be he will take some reprisal may be he will think it's against his sectarian religious view or something who knows what might happen. So, they said one representative to go and tell Lord Caitanya to stop his chanting. Because of the danger that be might there being so close to the emperor's capital. So that representative went to see Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya was so involved in the chanting from morning till night. He was chanting and chanting and with the chanting one can use the whole body in meditation he was dancing or playing instrument, but he was totally occupied in it from morning till night. So, the person was waiting waiting when he gets a chance to speak but just like midday, they may take a break. Chanting goes on he may go into a quick shower or bath in a pond taking his lunch and again go out to chant. There is not even a moment where he could get time to speak to him. Like this he was waiting for two days, and more and more people were coming it's just like a huge nonstop day and night that was just going on this chanting. So finally, he started to talk to some of the other principle chanters who were there that this you were right next to the mughal emperor's capital city. It's just 4,5 kilometers away 3-4 kilometers away. Anything could happen. Better you go further away from here. So then they started getting worried and then chanting, some people hesitating, so finally Lord Caitanya could see that the enthusiasm was getting a little bit weakened. So suddenly he stopped all the chanting he impressed everyone. "You think that i don't know where we are? You think that i don't know that we are right next to the palace of the emperor Hussain Shah? Nothing can stop this saṅkīrtana movement or this process of chanting. This is going to spread. This is the most effective means of liberating the consciousness. So you don't have to worry just go ahead chanting. In this way you will be able to advance very quickly." So everyone felt again enlivened and they went on chanting and then the representative from minister failed and went back. In the meantime naturally the news reached the emperor that Lord Caitanya was chanting and thousands of people were joining him. So, he asked one of his ministers “what do you think about this Lord Caitanya?”. Again that minister thought that I better cover it up. He said that “Caitanya is just a mendicant. He is just some type of hermit moving around. He is not important. Not much following, no money, nothing”. Then the Hussain Shah said that “I don't agree. I have a different opinion.” Rest of all told “Lord! Tell us your opinion”. He said “well. I am an emperor. I have so many kings under me. My kingdom goes this far you get the whole thing. But what is keeping this empire together. Why do my generals work? Why do my governors work? Why do my you all you ministers work? None of you would work if I didn't enumerate you. If I didn't pay you. If you didn't get any money, no one of you would work. I don't even think that my wife would stay if I could not provide her economic needs. But I have noticed that this Caitanya. This lord Caitanya, thousands of people are joining him, and they are not getting any pay. Even some of my own ministers.” One of his ministers have joined Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Rūpa. “Even he has left the service and joining Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So my opinion is he has got the power of Allah. He is not different from Allah. He must be either God or connected with a power of God. Otherwise, how he can have this power to make people happy and satisfied without giving them any material remuneration. No one can do that unless he is spiritual.” So, nobody has a good thing. The emperor has given his opinion. So in this way Caitanya Mahāprabhu he was able to impress people all over. Whether they were a Mohammedan. Whether they were Hindu, Buddhist or Jain or whatever they were. Sikh. So, this message was brought in 1965 here to the western world by Bhakti Vedanta Swami. He came to Australia. How many times? 6 times! At the age of 70 he left India, and he travelled around the world about 14 times to different continents. He went to Russia. He went to Africa. He came here to Australia 6 times. From the age of 70 to 82 training the people in the modern world the same principles of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So many people know that when they see the devotees chanting in the street. Because that was practiced some 500 years ago and still people on occasion. Just like Saturday session on Ratha-yātrā and the devotees will be chanting in procession. But apart from the public chanting one may chant at their own home. It's not that everyone must. Some people may be shy to chant in public. We have a temple also. Several temples. Just like we have here regular meetings. Once in a month I heard. So people can chant together or they may chant in their home. The idea is that certain techniques are there of chanting, of meditation, of cooking, simple living and high thinking, natural living which can all bring to help the spiritual consciousness up in an individual. This is basically a process where everyone can become liberated no matter what age they are. No matter what creed they are. No matter what background they have. Basically, some basic techniques I have described like chanting, the actual process of how to do it. In some meetings like this we show how to chant on meditational beads. The idea behind that there are two basic categories of meditation. One is where one totally shuts off the senses. Tries to gradually stop the mind and just meditate focusing the consciousness between the eyes. Meditate on spiritual chakras or spiritual centers in the body. This one form of meditation that requires to be very peaceful by breathing exercises to various techniques to bring the consciousness to a very controlled situation. Now that takes a long practice and people have to be very patient to do that type of technique. Basically inactive kind of people. People that can sit still for a long time without falling asleep. It's not so suitable for the people of the west. Even to learn the sitting postures is quite difficult. Some people were not able to perform many of the āsanas which are conducive for this form of meditation. So many people identify that as Yoga. But that is one of the yogas. There are several yogas. There was another yoga which was taught to Arjuna who was a warrior, he was a politician, he was a general, he was a prince, he was a very cultural person, he was a great religious man, he was a active man, he was artistic, he could play music , he could dance, he could do so many things. So, when he was proposed that he wanted to perform some yoga that he should go to the forest and meditate, he said it's totally against my nature. To sit in one place indefinitely my mind will become restless after a short time. It is easier to control a hurricane than to control the mind and sit in one place indefinitely. Isn't there another form of meditation. So another type of meditation was given, meditation using the body. Using the senses. But focussing all the senses on a particular spiritual objects. For instance playing the drum, that uses the sense of touch. Chanting using the sense of speech. Hearing using the sense of hearing. That's why we sing  Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa and we listen, the two senses used to focus the mind. Then you also play an instrument and if you dance the three activities further focused. And if you are alone that's not practical. Some people sing alone feel shy to sing but when you are in a group it's easier. So there's also this meditational beads. The beads use the sense of touch meditation also it helps to keep track if you count how many you are chanting that also helps to keep the mind determined to chant properly for a particular period of time. And we can also use incense or flowers like these flowers. These flowers were presented to me very beautifully, a Garland, now this is prepared in loving attitude, and these are natural these are offered to Kṛṣṇa. So flowers the incense the smell of that can also bring the mind into better concentration. Uplifted from a just like if you walk into a stinky bathroom or something your mind gets pulled down its a horrible place. And if you can smell beautiful flowers , and waterfalls the natural beauty, the mind is exhilarated by that I mean every place has got a certain vibration. So if you take an incense and you offer that according to Kṛṣṇa conscious system then it's very aroma from the incense can give one exhilaration, a type of aid in concentration. In our temples we also have pictures as well as images or deities which also can be used to focus the eye sight. In this way all the senses can be engaged in a meditation. Not only chanting meditation but even cooking, cooking can be done as a meditation. or some work can be done as meditation. Some people they do sowing. Some people they make a Garland they make that as a meditation. There is no limit to how many activities. The techniques can be applied to various activities which are not causing any harm to others. So this gives a little idea about some of the basic teachings and history of this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement some of the basic philosophies since I may miss many important points so many doubts may come up in the discussion and since very shortly we are going to have the vegetarian feast and other programs I heard videos and other things I think this time would be appropriate to allow you to express any questions or doubts ot things you would like to know about before we proceed on. We better use the time now if you have any questions I could address those questions. I want to thank the opportunity for listening so patiently and for coming here to this program. I certainly find that the people here are very receptive very open minded, intelligent, I am very glad to be here with you this evening.

***

 On rebirth: Well normally we forget because at the time of birth there are various things that happen which cause us to forget. One thing is when we sleep we forget some of the details of the previous day. If we try to remember what happened a year ago, many of the details escape us if it is very monumental thing that happened, then we can remember. When we are we take birth we sleep basically for 9 months when we are in the womb or these most of those months then when we take birth, there is a excruciating pain, child birth and in that pain we go in the stage of shock which also helps us to forget. Then when we are born we have new senses we have new body and with the new body we don't know how to use the body yet then we forget, the previous body. Usually some small children they can remember but when they get 4,5 years old they forget everything. There's a whole new ocean of information whole new conditioning has already begun. Generally we forget in all these traumas of child birth and being in the womb for so many months. We generally forget. But also by regression, by hypnotism, these impressions are still in our sub conscious and a person many people have been taken back by hypnotism they say you something 25 year, 23 years 18 years they take you back, then they say now you are in your previous womb of your mother, your previous life. When they say you are in the womb of your mother, they all immediately go like this, they curl up. So sometimes they have to tell them when I tell you something don't move your body. Otherwise when we say womb of the mother they like immediately go into a very even like violent mea to that pose how we were located in the womb of the mother. That's not good for grown up people to do that so that hypnotist has to take precaution that they don't do that. There are some techniques for that I don't know. Then he takes them into their previous life. They can remember. So we may consciously forget because consciously we are aware of this body this life and because of all those traumas, there are some exceptions. Why the exceptions are there whether it's because of a cesarian birth it's because of there wasn't so much trauma of being born, whether it's because of some karma some unknown circumstance. This I can't say but the percentage of people that remembers are very few but some have recollection when they are small. But these are the basic reasons why normally we don't. That's also good in one sense. Because we get a fresh start. So many things happened. If we must remember all those lives it becomes too much. All the pain and all the suffering and desires and unfulfillment. It's very difficult. Actually we are given a fresh start. Say a person wants to achieve something, so they are given a chance to achieve all their unfulfilled desired without having to remember so many unnecessary things in the previous life. Yes.

On mind: Well naturally the mind is very flickering. So when we sometimes try to chant the mind tends to wander and go different places. So the process is that's why when you are chanting in a group usually the chanting is so intense may be the volume and the chanting this is the whole principle. Being in the group of people the tendency for the mind to wander is little less and when you are chanting alone although the mind is pretty good in wandering at any circumstances it's little easier to concentrate when there's many people chanting together and there's instruments and there is dancing it's usually easier to concentrate that's one of the benefits of the group chanting. But whether one is chanting in a group or individually if the mind goes off, we can just bring the mind back again. As soon as the intelligence can perceive that the mind is gone off again it brings the mind back to listening to the chanting. So as that's going on we may be in one hour we can bring the mind back every ten seconds and may go off every ten seconds but gradually we develop a habit where we can chant for a period of time with only meditating on that vibration may be for a period of one minutes or two minutes and gradually that will increase where a person can chant for even a half hour. But the mind is so treacherous, so difficult to control, they say someone's chanting they will realize that for some period of time I have chanted not thinking of anything else. Then the mind is thinking about the fact that you chanted, and you are not thinking of anything else that's another thought than chanting than thinking about chanting. Then you feel proud then your mind already took you somewhere else. Well I don't know. It's kind of like the mind has to be treated like you capture a little deer or some animal from jungle. You guys must tame it. Totally leave the mind unleashed it will run off. So you are giving it a long leash when it runs off you bring it back again. Normally we don't try to control our mind. People identify what they think is themselves. But actually what we think is kind of the conditioning in the society and the experiences we have been in not only from this life but from previous lives as well. So by practicing self-realization one gradually starts to realize that the mind is also a type of very subtle machine, the intelligence that which can see the mind and can direct the mind the reasoning power like the mind may suddenly think oh this is something good this is something bad just immediately the intelligence can overwrite that. For instance the mind may say someone gets angry because someone insults a person so the mind may suddenly say it will be good to take vengeance against that person. But the intelligence says no that's not good because the person who insulted me is not worth in taking any retaliation better to tolerate. So the mind may come up with different thoughts but the intelligence has to reason whether that's a good thought or not and ultimately accept or reject and direct the mind's direction. So by practicing chanting gradually one's intelligence becomes stronger and one can start to direct the mind. One can even though the mind comes up with different thoughts one comes to a much higher position in one's outlook so that the mind can no longer cause one simply to be happy or distressed just by thoughts. But one can try to control the mind and direct the mind in a positive way to do that we practice controlling the mind by having to think or hear the chanting then we can only do that for a certain period of time before we become our patience or attention is no longer is able to be kept. There are other types of activities one can also do as a type of meditation like cooking. Cooking can also be done as a type of meditation or any there are unlimited types of work that could be done as a meditation. It is a question of purpose and intent and knowing the technique you can use different activities as forms of meditation also as active meditation. In this way gradually the mind becomes peaceful becuase you keep engaging in transcendental activities and the intelligence can control the mind by engaging in positive activities. The mind I said is like a machine it's like a library of different experiences and likes and dislikes we have built up over lifetimes where this living force is actually the witness. The living force is the witness which is seeing everything go on and normally what happens is the senses our senses are engaged in serving sense objects. Object of the tongue is tasting, eating something. Object of seeing, object of hearing, so the senses they are engaged in serving the dull matter of sense objects. The mind thinks of different ways so that the senses can better serve the sense objects. The intelligence further coordinates the activities of the living force. So there's a picture in the Bhagavad-gītā of five horses a chariot with five horses pulling with their strings and a driver. So the 5 horses are the senses the strings are the mind or and the driver is the intelligence and the rider in the back seat is the living force. He is witnessing everything. He is the actual person that's thinking, willing, feeling everything that's going on. Now spiritual life is just the opposite the living force is meditating on the absolute truth and on the Supreme Personality of Godhead on the supreme reality and engaging in different types of meditation, sacrifice so on. So, the living force is focused upward and the living force brings the intelligence under its control. The intelligence controls the mind and the mind starts to control the senses. Eat good food. Don't eat bad food. Go to the Hare Kṛṣṇa monthly program in Hartsville. Don't go to something else. So in this way the mind controls the senses then the senses they use sense objects. Instead of being controlled by the sense objects they use the senses. So from no matter all the energy is going up to the supreme spiritual reality. This is a form of yoga so as one doing activity you get more and more energy. The other material all the energy is going from the spiritual force down and there is no connection with the supreme energy so people get tired because the little battery or little living force gets tired out after a while. Fighting with the mind and the senses in that way. You follow the difference. In conditioned life the mind is stronger by default. It's like that the chariot is run away. It's like the horses are gone wild and the it has gone out control because nobody people don't try to control their mind. Say that just like a small child they don't try to control their mind so they are running here and there and they don't have very much attention span but gradually as they mature they are taught to control their mind by various methods where to go to bathroom otherwise the parents are gonna spank them or chastise them or praise them or whatever different things are impetus then you go into a university where you have to control your mind you are trained to control your mind but you are thinking of some objective of somehow slug in through this for four years to get a good job in the end. So, in this way we have a limited control for some specific objective. But ultimate end of it all is some mental and sensual gratification without any higher understanding. A little bit of control is there in civilized beings but the control is it's kind of goes in a loop it's not actually really progressive in spiritual sense so when one actually learns to control the mind through this form of meditation in the form of yoga then actually one is able to be peaceful. friends can say that I have any objective alright i go to college i go to job then I will be happy. It seems that the person is controlled when they gradually don't get a job sometimes or when they get a job they still not happy. So, then they get depression why didn't it work out and the big problem in the modern society is depression. People make plans and even though the plans workout somehow, they still get frustrated. sometimes they don't workout they get frustrated. So one is able to proper philosophical understanding of the world we live in proper living habits proper development of our spiritual strength being able to control the mind a person doesn't have to experience any depression. So externally one may be in the same activities but intellectually, mentally, spiritually there is a totally different outlook little more clear? Yes.

On cows: The cow is respected for several reasons. according to the laws of karma there is a transmigration of the Soul now if you see a baby dog. let's say dog you know people mean in the sydney there are more dogs than cows but people sometimes they hug their dogs because basically animals are also people, they also have life in them. So they Vedas say that all the different creatures whether it's a dog whether it's a cow all the different creatures, they all have the same living force. The difference is that in the human form of life the consciousness is more fully developed. Where in the animal species the consciousness is less developed. That doesn't mean that animals don't have intelligence. For instance say that in a house some house wife is there in the kitchen cooking some milk. So the cat is watching from the door when will the house wife leave the kitchen. As soon as the housewife leaves, it runs in, drinks the milk, then runs out. So they have some intelligence but they don't have intelligence to know what is the purpose of life, where are we coming from before birth, where we go after death, what is this universe, who am I , so on. This type of questions the cat cannot address. But they can use their cleverness how to eat, where to go to sleep, how to avoid the dogs, so on. That they can do. So the Vedas describe there are basically eight million four hundred thousand different categories of birth starting from aquatics, plants insects, reptiles, birds , animals, then human beings. Human beings are 400,000 types. So after going through the 8,000,000 leave aside the 400,000 humans the 8,000,000 animal the last animal birth is a cow birth. From a cow birth it takes birth as a human being. So if you don't kill the cow, if you let the cow lead a natural life, next life it gets birth as a very good human. So for that reason it's considered to kill a cow is as great as not even greater in some respects a karma as killing a human being. Because it will be a human being in next life. Apart from that by nature's arrangement human beings require some animal protein, animal fat to live healthy and properly. But at the same time if we kill the animals then we have to take the karma for that that's unnatural. So the cow produces enough milk that if you feed more than one fourth of that milk to the calf, the calf may die. We have many dairy farms, and you must be careful. It will get colic and even die. So nature made animal that produces more milk than its young can eat. Very few other species that do that. The mother produces as much as the baby needs. So the cow is producing more why because the cow is specially designed by nature by God for the human beings to take that milk and that milk is not only good for the body but good for the mind. It helps the mind to have better memory to be more able to understand the spiritual subject matters according to the Vedas. So therefore, the cow is producing winder food. It just eats grass and it produces milk which is like wonderful from milk you get yogurt, you get cheese , you get butter and ghee and cream so in that way if you take milk from someone that's also considered we take milk from our  mother so if you take milk from the cow it's only civilized that you shouldn't take milk from someone at the same time you kill one. So that also the cow is respected as a mother because you are taking milk from her breast. If you are taking milk from her breast, how can you also kill her. It's uncivilized. Like this there are several reasons why the cow is respected also for devotees of Kṛṣṇa, because Kṛṣṇa personally took care of  cows. Cows are very gentle creatures they are very nice so Kṛṣṇa said that to actually be healthy all you really need is a minimum bottom line living environment. Rnough land to grow some crops to eat your to get some food grains some fruits and vegetables and a cow. That's enough. So therefore he was keeping cows to show that these are the essential aspects of human life. Factories, nuclear bombs, etc these are extra things. You can live without them. They are not absolutely essential or it that we use them in the modern society, but they are not they are not going to if they are not there you may still be able to live just talking about life and death. But you cannot live without food and the simplest food, healthy food that will also be good for your spiritual upliftment is that all kinds of these natural food grains. If you have that you can lead a healthy life. So because Kṛṣṇa respected the cow, because he said that these are very nice standard of life can be achieved by having a cow you will personally take care of cow so also the devotees of Kṛṣṇa respect the cow because Kṛṣṇa like the cow and we like Kṛṣṇa we like cows. I am your friend; your friend is also my friend. Kind of a symbol of goodness even in Thailand the king of Nepal not Thailand it's a Buddhist country. Going to Lord Buddha there are certain animals which are so high in reincarnation that if you kill them then it's a very bad karma. So the cow is considered also by Lord Buddha as cow, elephant a few animals he pointed out they shouldn't be killed. So the King of Thailand on his birthday he said if anybody who put a cow forward that they will never kill the cow he will put a special royal seal on it. That cow can never be killed and then he has some ceremony like that because that will be very meritorious work for Buddhists. So even though Buddhists don't consider the cow holy, but still they consider it valuable and high animal that should not be killed. So, the Holiness has come just because of the Kṛṣṇa aspect. Otherwise, we respect the cow as valuable partner in human society. Just like we consider the animals like smaller children like brothers and sisters in nature. So if you have a younger brother or sister that younger brother and sister may be weaker so this doesn't mean they are weaker that we should kill them? So in nature man is on the top but that doesn't mean that therefore he has to kill everybody. Everyone else all other creatures should be killed all the whales all the cows, everything should be killed why because man is the most intelligent. This is just like caveman mentality it's not the highest form of civilization. And because of this the karma of unnecessary killing is causing unnecessary wars. Like Vietnam so many young men were killed it wasn't necessary, it wasn't it was just unfortunate kind of situation. Well Iran and Iraq they were just sending them off everyday to the battlefield to get killed year after year. Usually these are all unnecessary because there are so many karmas in the world today so much animals slaughtered meat eating is performed was not necessary. Now if it's life and death one time there was one great saint he was caught in a drought there was like drought and horrible time he was in the desert and he was trying to get out he was about to die and in front of him he saw there was a dog and the dog died right in front of him but he was about to die himself. So he ate the dog's meat got enough strength he got out of that and after that he was a pure vegetarian, he didn't kill that dog the dog died it was already dead he just cooked it up and ate it got the strength to go after that he was vegetarian. It was life and death you know there might be some we find some dead animal and eat it that would be totally impractical. But now in the 20th century the kiwis from Australia and New Zealand are being shipped over to Iceland and Stockholm and all over to the world I mean you can get vegetables and fruits and grains and all i mean now the communication is such there is no shortage of ample food whats the need of killing an animal and causing unnecessary pain and karma. Especially someone as beneficial an animal as a cow which is giving us wonder food milk. Going to the Vedic view point this would be considered barbaric.

On the modes of nature: Because there is dimension earlier there is three modes goodness, passion and ignorance. So, people who are more endowed with goodness they tend to look for the reasons why? That's why good food, good situation they tend to promote that type of search. Like you find that even sociologically where there is more parks in a city where there is more kind of just natural there tends to be less crime. Then in like a very industrial place where it's all just factories and concrete and people tend to be more violent and shorter tempered it's the environment. So this is a kind of example. So that's why in modern cities they always putting parks and boulevards because sociologically they find that there is a difference. So Vedically these type of natural scenery ponds parks, vegetarian food, fruits, pleasant music all these things are tend to be in the mode of goodness. These things promote a person to seek for higher reasons who am i? what is the purpose of life? it's a natural philosophy. Some one of these things mode of passion in art, in philosophy, some philosophy some Is are also considered in the mode of passion but they also tend to bring one a little bit towards enquiry as a preservation or as a personal interest. But the mode of Ignorance this is totally blocked out to that type of higher vision, so some people they are more affected by the modes of passion ignorance, and some are more affected by the modes of passion and goodness. So, if we tend a little bit more towards goodness generally speaking people tend to be more seekers more have more of desire to know to be philosophical to be receptive, to be open minded and people are very much in the mode of Ignorance they tend to be very close minded, very depressed, absorbed in their own situation they don't look beyond that. Cite some there was a story how there was a boat man in India, in India the boat man when they don't have any wind to flow in the wind then they have to get their boat in upstream very hard to row the boat against the current so what they do they get off the boat and they walk along the side of the river and they pull the boat by rope along a path, where in the path there may be thorns, stones. It's hard work but there's no it's easier than rowing the boat against the it's easier to walk. So this boat man was pulling his boat and he was thinking that when I become rich what will I do. So, he thought when I become rich what I am gonna do is I am gonna put pillows all on the side of the river here so when I walk I won't get all these stones and thorns in my feet. He was dreaming like that. He didn't even think that if someone's rich why does he even have to pull a boat on the side of the river that he can't think. He was just thinking I will pull out a cushion. So this is why sometimes even people are good people actually potentially they could every person can achieve spiritual. The idea even doesn't appear to them. They there's a saying that through the trees you cannot see the forest they are in their little world and the idea that there is something beyond that even doesn't appear to them because they are absorbed in passion or ignorant type of activity. If they get a little association with someone who has a greater vision. Sometimes it takes some crisis in life then they start thinking why is this happening to me? Then they get receptive. Sometimes (unclear 1:11:05) they already have that type of natural attraction right from their childhood. It's different people have different circumstances but basically that's why we invite people to come and discuss these matters we have centers in the city otherwise in a country is much nicer we have farms in different places around. All over the world. Here in Australia there were farms. Much nicer more good to live in a country. But so many people live in the city and those are the people that need help more. So we have city cultural centers just to give this type of opportunity to the people to think that what is the purpose of life if the idea is put forward to them and they start to think about it whether they can generally people don't think about it. Unless they are very fortunate somehow or other they have that type of good situation it's needed to expose people little bit to this though they may not take it up the first time but it remain in our subconsciousness later on when they are in a more receptive mood they will remember, that person  said I never really took it very seriously then but actually now it starts to make sense. That means many times people. So that's why we are very grateful that you are coming here to this program being very receptive to spiritual minded people if you learn these techniques if you practice in your home you will be able also to help your other friends and relatives acquaints to bother philosophical questions in life which can save them from so much suffering. How to be get something constructive from everything that we think? So Lord Caitanya His view point was kind of like way a mother looks at a child, a child sometimes little baby will kick a mother say little baby kick or something like that. The parents don't consider that to be offensive or anything they take it they love that. So like that Lord Caitanya he would forgive all offences made by followers or any soul and still take them back and give them an opportunity. So Prabhupāda he taught us that we should see that people not have that type of sectarianism or some type of prejudices or things which are basically wrong bad and actually harmful to the person in the long run. We should consider those like diseases and so we can hate the disease we shouldn't hate the diseased. Just like if a friend has a flu, I may hate the flu I may hate a particular disease cancer, the person who is suffering from that we don't hate him. Do these people that's not their pure consciousness in future they could get purified from that misconception. So it's so unfortunate that mentally they are not they are diseased in the sense they are not able to have broad vision. If atleast here you see that the people they just like I have disciple in America Atlanta husband and wife now they the husband manages a chain of 12 car repair shops, tuning shops something like that. The wife she works for AT&T bell telephone a big international telephone company she does the long distance computer lines and things. So both of them having good salary and everything. Now at first the people when they heard that they were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and they joined but they still live in their homes they have their jobs but when they had some strike at AT&T about six months ago. So she went to the beginning lines and gave all of them cookies prasādam and gave some books and things so different ways they started to accepting more of that and they were still the same person I know they married little whatever. They had we preached on why we preached or we instruct on very kind of direct way which many people . They think why these people dress differently it's a different culture, they can't get beyond that they are very protective in their own mind there's something that's different from what their custom do. They have some in born kind of mental war for that. Well a person who is a mahājana? Mahātmā one who is living in his house like you know actually from home the family situation or its another opportunity say people know how to cook this type of vegetarian food, you might prepare sometimes and give them a feast the way we take this is all vegetarian and not like artificial meat or something in this way in an informal way you can introduce many subjects to people that when Just most friendly informal not a formal meeting like this or in a Temple. So in the movement of Lord Caitanya lot of the way that's spread was in a very informal way like that. The formal great active preachers those people were there also in a more person to person way also distributed so the most important thing is that we learn to identify what is a disease and hate that and avoid that in our own life and then later as we become stronger then try to be little patient see whatever may be some people may have some bad aspects there may be something good some part of them which shows a little hope for being able to bring them closer to this type of an understanding so you take the good aspects. Like sometimes you find someone who may be they have a good service attitude they don't like the philosophy but say if you are doing a big festival they will come and help you build something take a hammer or just sometimes unusual things like that. There may be something that they like to do like say in South America I was just in Peru. There were earthquakes last year. So lot of people were made homeless so we had regular program and we see the people in part of the town. So lot of the youth there in Peru and all these there is lot of communists movements going on there is also this lumen also. Shining path, I mean there's lot of guerilla wars and things like that going on so the youth in colleges they don't involve in all these things. it's a very contagious type of thing but in that because we were feeding the poor people and they have like idealism they want to see that people are served. So we are feeding them spiritual food we serving our spiritual people and feeding the hungry people as well and we get all the young political workers, college students to come and help us. And there are not so interested in doing the meditation at first, but they like to do the social work so that by doing that they automatically they also chant they also get into it. They become very favourable. Sometimes you have to find you know where the particular way is to help someone to get over that type of bad conditioning, diseased conditioning. That's why Lord Caitanya also said we should try to see the faults in ourselves and see the good qualities in others. That also helps but we can't have face to face with very uncomfortable situation due to someone's own very severe conditioning. So rather than take it just it's not a permanent feature of that person may be in this lifetime at this moment he has that conditioning, or she has that conditioning but later that may change.